Kevin Durant, LeBron James and NBA’s ‘Uncle Brigade’ won’t stop fighting. Treasure it.

NEW YORK – Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns forward, finished with 31 points in a recent win against the Dallas Mavericks, joining the 29,000-point club. Afterwards, he was asked about the milestone.

“It speaks to so many people that helped me out,” he said in his on-court interview.

“So many people that got in the gym with me. Encouraged me. Sent me texts after bad games. Took time out of their life to come watch me play and be invested in my career. It’s all about them.”

But then he made a reference to more feats to come because, while Durant respects the history of the game deeply, he refuses to be regarded as some finished star collecting pats on the back in his final days in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He does not like the tone of those end-of-career reflection questions. The end is not near, and so he punctuated his appreciation with a pledge: “I’ve got more to do.”

Then he dropped 30 points in a home win in their next game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

If Durant, 36, has a moderately good year by his standards, he will score upwards of 1,500 points this season.

Along the way, he will pass Moses Malone and Julius Erving, and move into eighth place on the career scoring list, which includes players from the American Basketball Association. He passed Shaquille O’Neal last season to reach the top 10. Anything over 2,000 points this season, and Durant will be stalking Wilt Chamberlain at No. 7.

Of the four legends mentioned, guess who totalled the most points at age 36? O’Neal at 1,333, edging out Malone’s 1,279. Erving and Chamberlain were in their final season at age 36, and barely scored more than 1,000 points.

Meanwhile, saying Durant could average 25 points a game is a cold take. That is why he is out here mentioning legendary milestones as if he is rounding third base.

He knows he is still among the best, and he will have more milestones and legends to overtake. So this 36-year-old in the NBA, who is averaging almost 40 minutes a game so far, can look past 29,000 points as if it were a point guard defending him.

Yes, this era of old heads is different, but the changing of the guard in the NBA is happening. Nikola Jokic sparked the transition. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Luka Doncic. Anthony Edwards. Victor Wembanyama. The league will be theirs. Their names on the marquee. Their presence drawing the masses. Their legacies the subject of debates.

It should have already happened, if not for the Uncle Brigade – LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Durant, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler, when healthy. The NBA has never seen this many OGs (originals) still cooking, still working the grill in sandals with socks on.

It is a testament to the advances in kinesiology, technology and hoopology. More than anything, though, it is an illustration of their dedication to their craft and how much they love the game. They are magnificently maniacal – real hoopers.

The next generation will have to prise the superstar sceptres from their social security grips.

James turned 30 in the 2014-15 season. Before that season, the NBA had a player average 25 points or more 334 times over 68 seasons. Of those, 18 were accomplished by players ages 33 or older. So 5.4 per cent of the best scorers were in past-prime ages.

But since and including the season James turned 30, a player has averaged at least 25 points per game 128 times over 10 seasons – 13 of them by players 33 and older. Up to 10.2 per cent. Nearly double the rate.

Last year, eight players in their 30s averaged 23 or more. It was the second season in a row that happened, which broke the previous record of seven in 2020-21.

Before that, the most was six players, twice. In 1995-96, with Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Charles Barkley and Mitch Richmond. The oldest was Olajuwon at 33. And in 1985-86, with Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Moses Malone, Mike Mitchell, World B. Free, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was the eldest at 38.

This season, some 10 to 12 players in this age demographic could average at least 20. In addition to the aforementioned: Paul George, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic and C.J. McCollum.

Yes, some of their success is attributable to the era. The three-pointer obsession, and the space it creates, makes averaging 20 points at least slightly easier. But anyone who watches the Uncle Brigade go to work and credits these players’ greatness to this era is missing it.

Yes, they are getting paid crazy figures. It is easy to stick around when the standard mid-level exception is US$12 million (S$16 million), which is more than what Barkley ever made in an NBA season.

But these veterans who have lapped the field are not making the mid-level. They are good enough to command the big salaries. And anyone who thinks it is just about the money for them is missing it, again.

Do not miss what is happening. Do not take for granted how some of the best players we have ever seen have packed two lifetimes in their careers. The game has changed. The world has changed. Yet, their greatness and showmanship have survived it all. They have been consistently excellent, reliably entertaining.

Eventually, they will be ushered off the main stage, if they do not leave first. The rightful heirs will take over.

And we can only hope the players of the new generation give as much of themselves as the ageing stars, that the future faces of the NBA learn a valuable lesson as they prise away the sceptres: It takes greatness to get to the top, but staying there requires something different. They have got more to do.

Discipline, on and off the court, for instance, is one of the key factors.

Just this week, the NBA said on Nov 5 that Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid has been suspended for three games without pay for shoving a member of the media.

The locker-room incident occurred after the 76ers’ Nov 2 game when oft-injured Embiid, who has not played this season due to what the team have called left knee management, confronted and shoved a Philadelphia newspaper columnist.

Embiid took issue with a column the journalist wrote which questioned the seven-time NBA All-Star and former league Most Valuable Player’s effort to stay in shape and also mentioned the player’s son and late brother. NYTIMES, REUTERS